Online Dating and Romance Scams

The world today is heavily digitized that scammers and fraudulent individuals take advantage of unsuspecting and innocent victims. For instance, as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies continue to expand, they attract more users worldwide. But, majority of crypto enthusiasts couldn’t meet the expense of purchasing costly crypto mining equipment thus they search for other alternatives and cloud mining is a preference that is most popular. Cloud mining could in fact earn real profit provided that there is an adequate investment. Since cloud mining means relying on cloud mining companies, the drawback is to locate a reliable and trustworthy companies as there are plentiful of fraudulent companies that cropped up like mushrooms that create fake bitcoin exchanges, wallets, do phishing and ponzi scams.

Online Dating and Romance Scams

Apart from this, scammers also take advantage of individuals seeking for romantic relationships, every so often through dating sites, apps or social networks by feigning to be potential partners. These scammers play with emotions to persuade their victims to give them money, gifts even their personal as well as financial details.

How Scam on Dating and Romance Works

With our vastly digitized world, scams on dating and romance frequently happen through the internet via online dating sites, social networking platforms or electronic mail for direct communication. Some scammers even give their victims a call as an initial introduction. This is called ‘catfishing’.

Typically, these deceitful people set up phony profiles online with the aim of luring in victims. They make use of fictitious names and/or take on fallacious identities of actual, trustworthy individuals like aid workers, personnel in the military, or professional overseas workers, and would often say to be from the west but are working elsewhere or are travelling. They will communicate deep, passionate and romantic sentiments for you in a rather brief time period, and will convince you to shift the relationship outside the dating site onto a more private and personal avenue, for example through email, instant and direct messaging and/or phone.

Whatever way you are tricked and swindled, you can end up exhausting a great deal of money, and the money forwarded or sent to these scammers are almost unrecoverable. Furthermore, one may feel long-term emotional pain and betrayal.

Keep Your Guard Up

By no means should you send out money to anyone you just met and/or have not personally met nor should you allow cash transfer for somebody else.

Be attentive to inconsistencies and incongruities in their stories as well as other indications of scamming.

Be extra careful when sharing and revealing personal photos or videos with potential partners as scammers are known to be blackmailers and your photo or video could be used to blackmail you.

If you reach a decision to personally meet a potential partner, always let your family and/or your peers know of your whereabouts. It is also strongly advised to not travel in a foreign country to do a meet-up with a person you have not ever met.

Be cautious of appeals for money, financial and personal details by anyone you aren’t acquainted with or by someone you don’t trust.